Performance-based wind engineering: economy, safety, and reduction of carbon emissions in the built environment

• Grant number: 24/10207-6
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: December 01, 2024
• End date: November 30, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Civil Engineering - Structural Engineering
• Principal Investigator: André Teófilo Beck
• Grantee: André Teófilo Beck
• Host Institution: Escola de Engenharia de São Carlos (EESC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Carlos , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Henrique Machado Kroetz

Abstract

Performance-Based Engineering (PBE) is a modern design paradigm which targets the significant uncertainties in the design of structures subject to environmental loads, such as wind, wave, and earthquakes. In the usual design procedure, a single representative value of these actions is used to verify the ultimate limit state: typically, the wind speed with Mean Recurrence Interval (MRI) of 50 years, and the seismic action with MRI of 475 years. As a consequence, structural performance for other values of these actions may be unsatisfactory. In recent earthquake occurrences, for instance, significant structural damage was observed for earthquakes smaller than the design action. This has led to significant downtime and repair costs. PBE addresses this limitation by considering the whole hazard curve of environmental actions, as well as intermediary structural responses. The technological challenge here is to enable the large number of numerical simulations which are required to obtain the aleatory non-linear dynamic structural responses, especially in the collapse prevention limit state. Optimal design targeting life-cycle cost and/or carbon emission minimization, within a PBE framework, significantly adds to the computational burden. In this context, use of surrogate modelling techniques is of paramount importance to reduce the computational burden, allowing for accurate yet efficient solution of numerically challenging engineering problems. This project has the objective of developing novel formulations for Performance-Based Wind Engineering (PBWE) applied to the design of high-rise buildings and of transmission line towers. Especial attention will be given to non-synoptic wind phenomena (downbursts and tornados), which have larger intensity and great potential to cause significant damage to infrastructure. In parallel, novel adaptive metamodeling techniques will be developed, targeting the solution of life-cycle cost and/or carbon emission minimization, in a PBWE context. This project has immediate applications to design of buildings, bridges, transmission lines and other civil infrastructure, and potential to reduce carbon emissions by the built environment. (AU)